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At the moment a maximum field of 24 have been declared for this showpiece of the Doncaster Jumps Season and amazingly this race only carries Listed status and is not even part of the Order or Merit.
Top Weight is the Peter Bowen trained Always Waining who was pulled up in the Welsh National but has a previous win at Market Rasen in September and was also twice an also ran behind Snoopy Loopy,the stables flag bearer this term.
Second in the weights is According to Pete who has come into the race unbeaten with Three novice chase wins at Hexham and Newcastle aswell as adding the big 3m Fixed Brush Hurdle at Haydock back in November, he was 6th last year in the 2m3f h’cap hurdle on the same card and still has lots of improvement left in him and cannot be ruled out.
Hot Weld makes his come back after missing last season but finished off with wins in the Scottish National in which he put in a demolition job under flat jockey Paddy McDonald before following up a week later in the Bet 365 Gold Cup at Sandown but may need the run.
Laskari is from the Paul Webber yard and comes here in a rich vein of form after landing wins at Kempton and Doncaster this season, despite being outdone by Fleet Street at Kempton last time out it seems that keeping him at 3m is the way with him.
Paul Nicholls has a runner in Big Fella Thanks who at the moment has no jockey but has a good chance after being places in three novice chases this term and despite unseating Christian Williams at Taunton last time out is bound to have been well schooled and for the yard who won the Rowland Merrick on Boxing Day they will be wanted to land another big race in Yorkshire.
Verasi is on something of a retrieval mission after being pulled up in his three starts this term at Newbury,Cheltenham and Chepstow, A fair novice last season winning three times including a Grade Two at Lingfield when taking the scalp of top mare Labelthou and beating Old Benny at Warwick he was firmly placed in 8th in the RSA at last seaons festival behing King George 2nd Albertas Run but Verasi has struggled and may do so again in a race as competitive as this.
One more horse who could run well is Thats Rythmn trained in Penrith by Martin Todhunter, winner of a 3m handicap hurdle at Aintree in 2007 in which he beat Old Benny into 2nd and also Coral Cup winner Naiad du Misselot down the field he then pulled up on his last run at Newbury before running 2nd in a Novice Chase at Haydock, since then he has had two more second places, behind According to Pete at Hexham and then behind Mill Side at Newcastle, running of 10-5 he is thrown in and can run a huge race on his handicap debut.
Thats a look at some of the runners and now it is time for a couple of selections,
For me Big Fella Thanks is still open to improvement and should run a nice solid race.
EW bet has to be Thats Rythmn who has good form to his name and has been left alone since his run at Newcastle and comes here fresh and will be in the shake up.
Promises to be a good race as ever and a cavalry charge going over 3m jumping 18 fences will be a fine site for the South Yorkshire faithful.
Big Fella Thanks would and probably should have won last time out. Went off of top weight 11-12 with Christian Williams on board and fell two out I believe. He was going really well.
He’s got to win one of these at some point and this seems like his best chance
Big Fella Thanks would and probably should have won last time out. Went off of top weight 11-12 with Christian Williams on board and fell two out I believe. He was going really well.
He’s got to win one of these at some point and this seems like his best chance
Looking a bit of a thinker I’d say and was far from guaranteed to have won lto despite travelling well.
Verasi needs absolutely bottomless ground over this kind of trip to have any realistic chance…………….much as it pains me to say.
Ungaro is the one for me.
He’s far from reliable, but ran very well when 2nd last year behind An Accordion who obviously followed up at the Festival.
He’s back down to a similar mark and the Reveleys seem to target the big handicap chases up north.
To think great horses like Mandarin and Mill House ran in this it’s a shame it has become like a gathering for some of the most unreliable chasers around .
Fier Normand’s ran a very good race when he ran a on from along way back in January, when unfancied.. He will be much fitter today but has only ran over the trip once whe he fell. If he gets the trip he will go very close. 14/1 with William Hills is not to be sniffed at.
my Jumping Prospects book says that they want to run Native Coral in the Topham at Aintree and need to win a race or two to line up..at that price is certainly worth an ew.
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Whilst I appreciate that Martin Todhunter hasn’t been in the greatest form of late, I can’t help but think that the 16/1 forecast about That’s Rhythm is huge in comparison to According To Pete’s 7/1.
The pair were only three or four lengths apart off level weights back in October, yet the former is now 20lbs better off. He had useful form over hurdles, will go on the ground, will definitely stay and, despite being beaten last time, still ran well over an inadequate trip (the third horse has since won).
Native Coral looks worthy of a saving each-way interest.
Whilst I appreciate that Martin Todhunter hasn’t been in the greatest form of late, I can’t help but think that the 16/1 forecast about That’s Rhythm is huge in comparison to According To Pete’s 7/1.
The pair were only three or four lengths apart off level weights back in October, yet the former is now 20lbs better off. He had useful form over hurdles, will go on the ground, will definitely stay and, despite being beaten last time, still ran well over an inadequate trip (the third horse has since won).
There was barely 2l between them at Hexham off levels 10-12 last October
so at these weights i will also be on "Thats Rhythm" a lightly raced 9yo
who at 16/1 should be a solid e/w bet, he also strikes me as a horse that
needs a break between his races, which bodes well!Must say I do like Big Fella Thanks, but at a better price I think I’ll also play Lysander e/w @ 25s.
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Equitrack/GW
In your enthusiasm, aren’t you both ignoring that since that race According To Pete has won, with consummate ease, 2 better chases and a 62k hurdle from his 3 runs, whereas That’s Rhythm’s only run since was a short-priced defeat in a lower class race?
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I’m not ignoring that fact, reet, merely betting in spite of it (having recognised the relative chance of the improved According To Pete and factored it into my calculations accordingly). I also took the view that That’s Rhythm was running over too short a trip last time out and, in any case, wasn’t all that disappointing.
That said, I wouldn’t say I was overly enthusiastic about That’s Rhythm initially – certainly not in the same league as GWILSON77 anyway
Im’ with you and GW on this one. Wherever According To Pete finishes I think this horse will finish in front of him. He’s twice the price of him which reprenets a good EW chance to me wheras ATP has hardly got a racing weight.+
I would say he’s very consistant butIdon’t think he’simproved thatmuchifany. He was thrown in against Souffler snd his other tworunswere pretty poor afffairs
When TR ran at Haydock back in May he was subject to a bit of a gamble but was beaten. I believe the excuse put forward was the trip was too short for him.
At Hexam he ran on really well under hands and heels from AP who was anything but hard on him. A race he would have needed and would surely bring him on.
Next time out lo and behold they run him over 2m 4f again. He was also very easy to back that day drifting slightly from 11/10 to 5/4. If that entry and market move is not a tip in itself I don’t know what is.
He’s obviously been laid out for this and if AP wasn’t riding JP’s and was riding this you wouldn’t get 16/1 in a dream.
Tough old race to win but he’s got as good a chance if not better than most IMO
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Now a non-runner – that’s what ‘enthusiasm’ does for you.
Native Coral it is then.
Now a non-runner – that’s what ‘enthusiasm’ does for you.
Native Coral it is then.
Must be a mud bath half the field look like not running
That said, I wouldn’t say I was overly enthusiastic about That’s Rhythm initially – certainly not in the same league as GWILSON77 anyway
Equitrack
if you think thats me being enthusiastic, you should read my posts regarding "Albertas run" winning the Gold Cup, Now thats enthusiastic! Oh sorry i see you have read my posts, you keep saying he"s got No chance!!I’ve rehashed my book for this race a number of times, and in the end teh only one I’ve got as value is Native Coral. I took 18.5 but in the meantime I presume there will be a bit to come off that.
Here we ahve noe of the main races of the day, and the big race on a decent card at Doncaster, with little more than half the declared field likely to take to the course. Quite frankly the sport and those involved with it don’t come out of it with an awful lot of credit, and I do wonder what first time or occasional racegoers make of this sort of pantomime.
Rob
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